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OF SLEEP AND CLOTHING.

OF CLOTHING.

Tiie ciotfung ouglit to be suited to the climate. Custom has nodoubt ;i very great influence in this article; but no custom can everchange the nature of things so far as to render the same clothing fitfor an inhabitant of Nova Zembla and the island of Jamaica. It isnot indeed necessary to observe an exact proportion between thequantity of clothes we wear, and the degree of latitude which weinhabit; but, at the same time proper attention ought to be paidto it, as well as to the openness of the country, the frequency andviolence of storms, and other vicissitudes of the weather.

In youth, while the blood is hot and the perspiration free, it is lessnecessary to cover the body with a great quantity of clothes; but inthe decline of life, when the skin becomes rigid and the homours morecool, the clothing should be increased. Many diseases in the latterperiod of life proceed from a defect of perspiration: these may, insome measure, be prevented by a suitable addition to the clothing,or by wearing such as are better calculated for promoting the discharge from the skin, as clothes made of cotton, flannel, &c.

The clothing ought likewise to be suited to the season of the year.Clothing may be warm enough for summer, which is by no meanssufficient for winter. The greatest caution, however, is necessary inmaking these changes. We ought neither to put oft our winterclothes too soon, nor to wear our summer ones too long. In thiscountry, the winter often sets in very early with great rigour, andwe have frequently cold weather even after the commencement ofthe summer months. It would likewise be prudent not to make thechange all at once, but to do it gradually; and indeed the changesof apparel in this climate ought to be very inconsiderable, especiallyamong those who have passed the meridian of life.

Clothes often become hurtful by their being made subservient to thepurposes of pride or vanity. Mankind in all ages seem to have con-sidered clothes in this view; accordingly their fashion and figurehave been continually varying, with very little regard either to health,the climate, or conveniency: a farthingale, for example, may bevery necessary in hot southern climates, but surely nothing can bemore ridiculous in the cold regions of the north.

Even the human shape is often attempted to be mended by dress,and those who know no better believe that mankind would be mon-strous without its assistance. All attempts of this nature are highlypernicious. The most destructive of them in this country is that ofsqeezing the stomach and bowels into as narrow a compass as possible,to procure what is falsely called a fine shape. This madness seemsto have pervaded the minds of mothers in every age and coun-try. Terence, in his comedy of the Eunuch, ridicules the Romanmatrons for attempting to mend the shape of their daughters. Bythis practice the action of the stomach and bowels, the motion of theheart and lungs, and almost all the vital functions, are obstructed.Hence proceed indigestion, syncope? or fainting fits, coughs, con-